In London, Ladies Who Lunch Gather for a Good Cause

Apart from the Oscars, where else would you find a room full of so many beautiful, glamorous, and talented women? Well, the answer is: at the biennial lunch for African Solutions to African Problems (ASAP) hosted by the charity’s founder, Priscilla Higham, in London.

Where do we start? Among this year’s table hostesses were Sharleen Spiteri, Jasmine Guinness, Lady Ashcombe, Lady Anne Lambton, Annabel Elliot, Jane Ormsby Gore, Melanie Metcalfe, Rosie Bartlett, Tiggy Kennedy, Maia Norman, Camilla Lowther, and Beatrix Silvano, to name just a few. Such a strong female presence among the 400 guests was no coincidence; they’d been invited to meet “Scilla” Higham and the South African women who inspired the program’s conception. The charity aims to provide support, training, and resources to women who care for orphans and vulnerable children in their home communities, alleviating the affects of H.I.V./AIDS.

The lunch was held within the Louise T. Blouin Institute’s very cool white walls, an antidote to the baking-hot weather outside and the perfect setting for such a colorful gathering. Guests including Lady Helen Taylor, photographer Mary McCartney, designers Bella Freud and Rifat Ozbek, models Laura Bailey and Saffron Aldridge, interior designer Amber Aikens, and actors Emilia Fox, Nick Reding, and Rupert Everett sat down to platters of Itsu sushi, Pret a Manger sandwiches, carrot and lemon cake, and chocolate popcorn, all laid out on multi-colored kikoys. Wild flowers filled hand-painted jam jars, and each guest was given a beautiful handmade beaded blossom to take home. Everything had been donated—even the South African rosé.After an impressive unaccompanied African choir, consisting of some very teeny children, serenaded the room, and a video by Jazzy de Lisser and Felix Cooper educated attendees on the pair’s recent trip to South Africa, Scilla took to the stage and announced: “I wish there was an African solution to my problem—my nerves!”

Despite the modest joke, Higham did an excellent job of inspiring her lunch guests to donate to the cause. You’d have never guessed that England’s next World Cup match kicked off at three p.m. and that Maria von Thurn und Taxis had a dissertation to hand in! Even Higham’s great friend the actress and writer Lady Anne was in a charitable mood despite earlier sighing, “My friend’s turned into Mother flippin’ Teresa, and I’m still the same old selfish bastard.”